January 6, 2021 Digital Fluency Expression of Interest Please review the attached document and submit your application electronically according to the guidelines provided by 11:59 pm EST on February 3, 2021. Applications will not be accepted unless: • Submitted electronically according to the instructions. Submission by any other form such as email, facsimiles or paper copy mail will not be accepted. • Received by the date and time specified. Key Dates: Date Description January 6, 2021 Expression of Interest Released Closing Date and Time for Submissions February 3, 2021 Submissions received after the closing date and 11:59pm EST time will not be considered for evaluation Submit applications here By February 28, 2021 Successful applicants notified Please note: due to the volume of submissions received, unsuccessful applicants will not be notified. Feedback will not be provided eCampusOntario will not be held responsible for documents that are not submitted in accordance with the above instructions NOTE: Awards for this EOI are contingent upon funding from MCU. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................... 3 2. DESCRIPTION ....................................................................................................................... 4 WHAT IS DIGITAL FLUENCY? .......................................................................................................... 4 3. PROJECT TYPE ...................................................................................................................... 5 4. ANTICIPATED TIMELINE ........................................................................................................ 6 5. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................................... 7 ELIGIBILITY ................................................................................................................................. 7 SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS........................................................................................................... 7 MINIMUM PROJECT REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................. 8 ELIGIBLE EXPENSES ....................................................................................................................... 9 6. APPLICATION PROCESS ........................................................................................................ 9 7. EVALUATION PROCESS........................................................................................................10 8. APPENDIX A ELIGIBILITY ....................................................................................................11 9. APPENDIX B SUBMISSION TEMPLATE ................................................................................12 10. APPENDIX C EVALUATION RUBRIC ....................................................................................16 2 Background eCampusOntario is pleased to announce the release of the 2020-2021 Expression of Interest for Digital Content in support of the Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) announced by the Government of Ontario on December 11, 2020. The COVID- sector as institutions rapidly transitioned to remote delivery. During stakeholder consultations with the postsecondary sector and relevant stakeholders in summer 2020, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities heard about the need for virtual learning supports to enable access to high-quality learning. These results, taken in combination with the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) report on digital learning and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, informed the launch of the Virtual Learning Strategy. The Virtual Learning Strategy has been developed by the Province of Ontario to support expansion of and improvements to Ontario-based virtual learning programming. The VLS is designed to enable Ontario postsecondary (PSE) institutions to work together to realize three pillars:1 • Be the future: support the sector in driving high-quality, innovative hybrid learning Providing sector supports to create more and better options for learners and a continued co-existence with hybrid learning • Be a province of lifelong learners Enabling learners to access education, re-skilling and up-skilling to equip them for jobs of the future and meet the needs of the rapidly evolving labour market at any stage of their careers • Be a global leader marketplace for virtual learning The VLS is one-time strategic funding made available to the postsecondary sector in part through five Expression of Interest (EOI) opportunities: • Digital Content https://vls.ecampusontario.ca/ • Digital Capacity Targeted Supports https://vls.ecampusontario.ca/ • Digital Capacity Collaborative Supports https://vls.ecampusontario.ca/ • Digital Fluency (this document) • Digital Delivery https://vls.ecampusontario.ca/ 1 See https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/59593/a-made-in-ontario-virtual-learning-strategy-for- postsecondary-education for additional context 3 The Virtual Learning Strategy (VLS) supports learners in all aspects of the educational experience by recognizing the critical importance of the social and emotional wellbeing of learners, faculty, staff and communities within and surrounding our postsecondary system. To achieve this the VLS will: • Prioritize the social contexts of learning, including mental health, equity, decolonization, diversity, inclusion and accessibility • Focus on learner-centered design and engagement to support the development of content which has the learner and their experience at the centre of every project • Promote learner engagement and social cohesion for students • Support the development of collaborative virtual learning assets and content for re-use across the Ontario postsecondary system, including in Indigenous and French languages Description The Digital Fluency EOI is designed to provide resources and supports for educators and learners in a virtual teaching and learning environment. The Expression of Interest (EOI) seeks applications for the design and development of a series of province-wide courses to support continued professional learning across Ontario that improves teaching and learning in a virtual environment. The intent of this EOI is to support the VLS pillars and help Ontario PSE institutions work together to co-create a future of learning that enables greater sector-wide cooperation and collaboration, and the ability to reach globa The EOI is designed to inspire collaborative development of high-quality virtual learning content that is openly available for reuse and redistribution across postsecondary education providers in Ontario. This focus on collaboration, reuse, and system-wide benefit is at the core of the Virtual Learning Strategy. As a result, final products associated with the Digital Fluency Expression of Interest are: o Delivered for deposit in the eCampusOntario Library according to the required criteria. o Made available for use by institutions across the province using an appropriate license. It is the responsibility of all applicants to be fully aware of the legal permissions associated with the selected license before submitting an application. Alternative licensing or hosting arrangements of sensitive or otherwise restricted content (for example, Traditional Knowledge) may be proposed with sufficient justification. What is Digital Fluency? Coldwell- ability to identify and use technology confidently, creatively and critically to effectively meet the 4 demands and challenges of living, learning and working in a digital society (p. 3).2 The Digital Fluency EOI solicits applications for development of a province-wide course series inspired, in part, by the @One project in California. Project Type Assessment Strategies Description: This short course, of up to 4 modules, will support educators to develop skills in designing authentic or alternative assessment approaches for an online or hybrid environment. The project will include an environmental scan to gather existing resources. A course trailer, or teaser video, will be developed to showcase the content and solicit interest and participation from Ontario educators. Maximum budget per project: $200,000 Humanizing Learning Description: This short course, of up to 4 modules, will support educators to develop skills to incorporate humanizing design principles in their course from start to finish. The project will include an environmental scan to gather existing resources. A course trailer, or teaser video, will be developed to showcase the content and solicit interest and participation from Ontario educators. Looking for inspiration? Check out this course from California and this Online Course Design for Humans workbook from Trent University. Maximum budget per project: $200,000 High Quality Online Courses Description: This short course of up to 4 modules, will support educators in learning the key principles of a high-quality online course (including content presentation, navigation, interaction, assessment and accessibility). The project will include an environmental scan to gather existing resources. A course trailer, or teaser video, will be developed to showcase the content and solicit interest and participation from Ontario educators. Maximum budget per project: $200,000 Low Tech Teaching Description: This short course, of up to 4 modules, will cover the basics